John Chestnut Sr. Park - First Visit

10/23/2014 at 1:30 PM
Location:  John Chestnut Senior Park
Conditions:  81 degrees Fahrenheit; winds < 10mph; sunny 0% cloud cover

Pine warbler (Dendroica pinus). 

Ivy and Lindsey checking out the local flora.

Orchard spider (Leucauge sp.).

Boardwalk along Lake Tarpon.

Coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum) in Lake Tarpon.

American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).

Difficult to see brown snake in the water.  Possibly a brown water snake (Nerodia taxispilota).

White peacock butterfly (Anartia jatrophae).

     Ivy, Lindsey, and I went to John Chestnut Sr. Park on Lake Tarpon.  We spent the day walking around the park and trying to identify as many species as we could.  The lake ecosystem was similar to that at Sawgrass Lake in that the emergent plants, like cattail, grew along the banks of the lake whereas submerged plants, like eelgrass and coontail, grew further from the bank but still in the shoreline zone.  An anhinga and several moorhens were located in the shoreline zone as well as the American alligator seen above.  There was also flowing water swamp ecosystem (where the brown water snake in the above photo was located) which was dominated by bald cypress, dollarweed, and fern species.  It's an awesome park, go check it out!

Anderson Park 1st visit.

It was a wonderful day in Anderson Park the day was 10-21-14, the temp' was 79F with a lovely breeze there was not a cloud in the sky but I'll still say 1% just for S&Gs.  It is a well maintained park.  The bathrooms however leave much to be desired.  The gators wanted to eat Erin's little girl but we fought them off with sticks.  Not really, but we did want to feed them... However we had no food... and we did not want to be yelled at.   :)

                                          Here we have Nicole...Before we saw the Gators.

                                          Here is Erin also BG (Before Gators)

                                          Our first (of many) Gator!! He (or she) was hiding.

                                                                 Gross looking thing.

                                         Miss Nicole again about to go on the walk way.
                                         

                                                       Something growing on something.

                                             Frog!! He was another hard to see buddy :)

                                         Here we have one of six or seven Gators that we saw.

                                          I believe this is a tangerine. Don't know for  sure.

                                                    A cactus in the middle of our park.

And something hard yet squishy.

Brittany P.

Sawgrass Lake Park

Location:  Sawgrass Lake Park

Date: 10/ 16/2014

Temperature: 79 F

Weather: Partly Cloudy, about 50% cloud coverage

Park was partially maintained

Going to the Park, we went to learn about Lakes and Ponds and their surrounding areas.  The nature trail leading to Sawgrass Lake is a boardwalk. Along the way, we saw many different animals and plants.

In the building, there was a display of some taxidermy that could be seen or use to be seen around Sawgrass Park Lake. When walking through the park I saw different organisms. I saw some turtles, birds, alligators, a salamander, and insects.

 

 

 

     In the first two pictures there are turtles. One is walking across the back parking lot and the other one is burrowing in a hole. In the third picture there is a baby alligator just floating. There were quit a few but this was the best picture. in the bottom picture there is a cormorant which was there at the beginning of the field trip and the end.                      

 Along the way we also saw different plant species and different habitats. We saw the different layers of the forest such as canopy layer, shrub, and ground cover. There were also trees tipped over which can create habitats for organisms or a platform for other smaller plants to grow on.












In the surrounding pictures we can see all the different types of layers and plants that live within the area. The trail is built on a boardwalk because of the flooding that can occur when it rains.  In the picture on the left we can see little
 bromides growing on a tree. 

Sawgrass Lake Park

Location: Sawgrass Lake, St. Petersburg

Date: Thursday October 13, 2014

Temperature: 79 degrees Fahrenheit

Cloud Coverage: 50%

Park was partially managed 

We learned from the beginning that dredging had to be done to take out the led and arsenic pollution from the gun range, so eventually a barrier was put up to stop the pollution. 

Below is a picture of a black snake that was stumbled upon the beginning of the trip 

To start off, I saw many signs warning of alligators around the park

Group picture of Morgan, Imani, and I before our exploring began

A brochure was a nice touch for some information before we began our exploration of the park

A fallen tree provides a place for other organisms to grow as well as a shelter for others

A nice view from the top of the 2-story tower

Sawgrass Lake Park

Location of field trip: Sawgrass lake park. 
Weather: It was around 82 degrees outside with a breeze and about 50% cloud coverage.

 While visiting  the park, we learned that they found arsenic and lead in the water from a gun range near the park. The park was to go through a remediation, they planted new plants and tagged them. Also, there is now a barrier up around the gun range. While walking on the trail we saw a variety of plants and animals from the time we first walked in, to the time we left to go home. They had signs everywhere telling people not to feed the animals or molest the alligators. We saw a couple baby gators, but not a full sized one, which i thought was a little strange.

                                             A snake we saw by the picnic table upon arriving.

This is one of the many baby gators we saw on the field trip. We named the little fella Franklin.

 They had an outlook tower that you could view the park from high up. Above is the view of the lake from the second story of the out look tower.

                              Here is another photo taken from the outlook tower, its overlooking the trail.

They had a sign up, informing visitors about the restoration processes and what all was going to be done to the park.

-Morgan Swem

Sawgrass Lake Park 10-16-14

Location: Sawgrass Lake Park
 It was nice and breezy.  Cloud coverage around 55%. Temperature was 79 F. The park was 50% managed.  The bathrooms were VERY clean considering that it was a park bathroom and the doors where kept open.  Gold star to them on that.  They had signs up all over the place that said "DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS" I guess they don't want people being attacked by squirrels... We learned that a gun range was near the park and the shell casings would end up in the water and poison it thus killing the tree and plant life around.  The park workers ended up planting Bald Cypress to make up for the other trees that were lost. 

                            Some nice baby Gators... Some lovely lady said she saw a 8ft one.
                                                           I'm glad I did not see that one.

                                           I shall call him fluffy and he shall be mine.

                                       It looks like they are doing some work around the park.

                             Here we have a Soft Shelled Turtle who liked to play hide-&-seek.

                                 Another one playing hide-&-seek but this one is a Gopher Tortoise.
                                 You can see just a little bit of him but please don't ever stick your
                                 hand in the hole because you never know if a Rattlesnake has taken 
                                  over the home of the Gopher Tortoise.   Brittany P.